


quicksands of the mind

by tomatoconveniencestore



Category: Life Is Strange (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Hogwarts, Duelling, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-20
Updated: 2015-11-20
Packaged: 2018-05-02 11:33:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,271
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5246783
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tomatoconveniencestore/pseuds/tomatoconveniencestore
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Max is really good at duelling. Just as good as her biggest rival, Chloe. Neck to neck in the Duelling Club's championships, there's only one fight left that can decide the winner. And Chloe has a wicked strategy.</p>
            </blockquote>





	quicksands of the mind

It's not that Max has originally joined the Duelling Club because she was _that_ bad at duelling. Honestly, she was in the top half of her class. Not spectacular, but good enough to defend herself and win the occasional practice duels during their Defence Against the Dark Arts lessons. It's just that all her duelling skills somehow seemed to evaporate any time she got paired up with Victoria Chase. And after losing to her three times in a row, she decided to do something about it.

That was in October, though, and now it's almost summer. Not only has she grown remarkably more confident with her spells, she’s also managed to defeat Victoria in five duels. However, achieving her primary goal did not stop her from coming to the weekly meetings – she’s really come to enjoy the Club. She’s made some friends, learned a few tricks, _and_ found Victoria’s successor. Her rival’s name is Chloe, she's in sixth year as well, and although her hair is bluer than the Ravenclaw crest, she's a Hufflepuff through and through.

"So, Maxine, I hope you're prepared to lose today," Chloe says as she sits down next to her. Max has arrived a few minutes ago, and she's been mentally running through all the spells she thinks might be useful in the coming hour. It's the last meeting of the Club, last chance for her to solidify her leading position in the Club's rankings, and the last opportunity to beat Chloe Price and become the Club's champion of the year.

"Only in your dreams, Price," she says with a genuine smirk, shuffling to make more space for Chloe on the bench. She takes out her wand menacingly and starts practicing some of the spells' motions, making sure Chloe’s aware of her determination to win. Chloe follows suit, taking up her own wand and swishing it in the air, unperturbed. Although she can’t say it out loud, Max admires the grace she always puts into her spellwork, as well as the sheer strength behind her movements.

"Face it, Max, there's no way you're beating me today," Chloe says off-handedly, still focusing on her practice.

"Oh? Why is that?" Max swishes the wand in a particularly showy zig-zag pattern, which cuts through the air with a sharp sound.

"You'll see. I've got something up my sleeve." With that, Chloe stands up and walks over to the other side of the room, where some students have moved on to a stretching warm-up. Professor Grant is shouting out the instructions, while demonstrating an extremely lazy and held-back version of the motions itself. Max can't hide a smile - she's really grown fond of Grant as well.

Once she's feeling confident enough in her spell revision, she joins Chloe in the corner, jumping straight into the routine with an upward stretch of her shoulders.

"For your information, I've spoken to Warren about our duel," she says, noting that, although seemingly absorbed in a stretch of her own, Chloe frowns at that.

"Did you?" she asks, sounding unimpressed.

"Yep. I've asked him for a favour, so he looked at the results of the duels we've had over the past few months," she pauses, letting her neck crack as she slowly turns her head in a circle. "And he’s made a statistic."

Chloe just hums, pointedly not looking in her direction. Max goes on.

"Although we're neck to neck in points, there's more to our results than that. You're better at defensive spells and tend to win if you catch me off-guard, I have a tendency to do better under pressure and I've won three out of the four duels we've had on workshop days, so I'm way more flexible and quicker to adapt to unexpected circumstances," Max parrots off, making sure to follow Chloe's lead by fixedly staring at the wall opposite her.

"Gotta make sure to catch you off-guard, then," Chloe says simply, and walks off before Max has a chance to continue.

Once she's finished with the stretching, there's only one more thing to do. Coming to class wearing only her skirt and a shirt, she now puts on her robes, making sure that the Duelling Club badge is in its place, just above her right breast. Then she goes to sit back down on the bench where Chloe is polishing her own badge. Most of the other students are done with their preparations, too, so Professor Grant comes into the centre of the room, coughing to get everyone's attention.

"My dear duellists, the day has come," she starts off, her voice booming off the walls of the large classroom. "Although it's been a pleasure working with you this year, all good things must come to an end."

"I bet she uses the same speech every year," Chloe leans in to whisper in Max's direction. She feels inclined to agree. No matter how convincing Professor Grant's demeanour seems to be, she almost looks as if she's reading the words off of some invisible projector.

"As you know, the school year is coming to an end and all of you are expected to start preparing for your exams," Professor Grant makes a generous pause, then goes on. "But before we part, there's one last duel you have to face, and there's one last chance you have to advance your score in the competition table."

Max takes a look around the room, noting the varying levels of interest on her classmates’ faces. Most of them seem to be listening with limited attention, the focused frowns betraying their last-minute revisions. Others are not even pretending to be listening, murmuring to each other and poking each other's sides. Then she spots Kate, her Gryffindor classmate in the crowd, and she sends Max an encouraging smile, crossing her fingers in the air. Max's heart swells at that, realizing that if it weren't for the Club, she might not have become Kate's friend in the first place. She glances at Chloe, spots her staring back at her. She feels herself blushing, but chalks it up to embarrassment over her sentimental thoughts. _Pull yourself together, Max, you stupid sap._

"And with that, I wish you all good luck in your final face-offs. I can't wait to see which of you are going to be this year's champions." Max realises she's missed most of Professor Grant's speech, but she has no time to dwell on it. Students start standing up and splitting into groups by year and skill level.

Max and Chloe walk over to the group labelled ‘Advanced’. There's only a few people in it, most others opting to participate in the less-intense, fun-oriented lower levels. Max feels that, had the circumstances been different, she might have been in one of those as well. But when Chloe, early in November, announced that she was moving up to Advanced, Max didn't even hesitate to follow. It only took one long, strenuous, extremely enjoyable duel for their rivalry to develop.

"Thinking of starting off with a _Stupefy_?" Chloe says teasingly, waiting for Professor Grant to come to their group and give them the last set of instructions.

"Oh, please, I know better than to use stunning charms to get on top of you," Max blurts out, and Chloe smirks in delight.

"Do you, now?" Before Max has a chance to respond, and process another wave of heat coming onto her cheeks, Professor Grant's in front of them, smiling warmly.

"Good luck, my little stars," she addresses the group, giving them a friendly wink. "Show us all how it's done." She establishes the order of the duels, warns them about foul play, and then leaves to take her place at the judging bench. This is it, Max realises.

"Look Max, I know I sometimes spew a lot of shit and annoy the crap out of you," Chloe starts off as the group lines up, the two of them the second pair from the end. "But honestly? It's been an honour being your duelling partner this year. I've had a blast."

Chloe's mock-serious tone makes Max smile. She turns towards her, holding out her hand with a flourish. "Me too, Chloe. May the best woman win."

Chloe takes her hand, shakes it, and then leans in unexpectedly, kissing Max on her cheek. Max freezes on the spot, overcome with confusion, heart hammering wildly in her chest. Chloe just smirks, lets go of her hand, and goes to assume combative position several feet away from her.

_That cheater!_ Max wants to yell, but instead she tries to calm herself down and focus on her goal. Yes, that was not something that she has expected. Chloe _has_ totally thrown her off balance, just like she said she would. But hell, she's not going to lose the most important duel of the year just because of her stupid crush. She straightens her back, bares her face of all emotions, bows to her opponent and waits for Professor Grant’s signal.

Once it comes, she operates quickly: reaching for her wand, already planning a triple attack of _Expeliarmus_ , _Titillando,_ and _Locomotor Wibbly_. But before she can cast the first spell, she freezes in horror. Reaching back for her wand, she sees the triumphant look on Chloe's face as she searches for it in her robe pocket and finds plain air instead. Barely processing what’s happening, she's quickly being hoisted up into the air, Chloe's _Wingardium Leviosa_ spell hitting her straight in the chest. She doesn't even have time to properly convey her horror before Chloe sends her skidding across the classroom floor with another spell, and rapidly finishes the duel off with a _Petrificus Totalus_.

Completely unnecessary, in Max's opinion, seeing as she was already petrified by the sheer force of her anger.

_"Finite Incantatem_ ," says Professor Grant after a few seconds, freeing Max of the unpleasant spell. "Congratulations, Miss Price! You've won this year’s advanced championships. Fifty points to Hufflepuff on your behalf!"

"No, Professor Grant! Chloe chea—" Max starts, but the professor stops her with a sympathetic look.

"I know Max, it's not pleasant to be beaten by a single point. But don't worry, I'm sure you're going to come back even more determined next year, won't you?"

Overcome with the shock, Max's still sprawled on the floor as the professor turns away to congratulate the rest of the students. Max wants to gather herself up and protest again, but then there's a hand in front of her face that stops her in her tracks.

"Come on, Max, you're gonna get your robes dirty," Chloe stands in front of her, not an ounce of shame on her stupid freckled face.

"Dirty? _Dirty_? You have the audacity to talk about – " Chloe catches one of her swinging arms and helps her stand up, ignoring Max's protests.

"I have no idea what you're talking about, Max. Gosh, you’re such a sore loser," she says, but her smug grin is enough evidence that she knows _precisely_ what Max is talking about.

"You stole my wand! When you - when you --" Max lowers her voice a little, keeping the intensity intact. "You stole my wand when you kissed me!”

Chloe puts a hand on her heart, mock-offended. "Why Max, I did no such thing!"

"That's cheating, Chloe, and you know it! You knew precisely what you were doing and you –"

"You sure do have a wild imagination, Max. Me? Steal your wand?" Chloe shakes her head gravely. "I'm sure you must have left it somewhere in the castle."

"You've seen me practicing—"

"In fact, I think you might have left it at the Three Broomsticks when you went there with Kate last week," Chloe continues, and Max only now notices that her face seems to have gone pink as well.

"I had my wand with me—"

"But I'd be more than happy to help you look for it there, say, tomorrow at one?"

Max finally falls silent, analysing Chloe's words more carefully. She doesn't know how to react, only notices her heartbeat flares up again. Her mouth hangs open for a while, her face an unreadable grimace.

"Are you asking me out," she says, carefully, her eyebrows knitting together, "on a date?"

Chloe goes even redder, but her grin widens as well. „I was primarily hoping to help you find your wand, but yeah, Max, we can make a date out of it."

Max, not entirely mended from the duel itself, doesn't know whether to be delighted, offended, surprised, or simply ecstatic. Instead, she stands frozen in the spot, her face betraying her inner turmoil. However, she's pretty sure that the part of her that’s had a crush on Chloe for the past several months must be winning. Otherwise she wouldn't be nodding in the other girl's direction, feeling too overwhelmed to respond verbally.

"See you tomorrow, then," Chloe winks at her before retreating with a simple wave.

Once she's collected herself and brushed off the dirt of her robes, Max glances at the scores table mounted on one of the walls. Her name shines beneath Chloe's, that stupid one point separating her from victory. She realizes that most of her anger has dissipated just as quickly as it’d flared up. Although hell-bent on beating Chloe's ass next year, she no longer feels disappointed. Chloe's going to be the one living with the knowledge that her victory was a dirty trick, anyway, and _she_ gets a date out of it. A date with a girl that she's been longingly staring at from across the Great Hall for the better part of the year, nonetheless. Things could be a lot worse.


End file.
